JPH11224749A - Circuit board-mounted card reader and method of assembling the same - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Object] To provide a circuit board-mounted card reader having a low-profile structure and capable of easily ejecting a card by an actuator, and an assembling method thereof. A card reader mounted on a circuit board is mounted on an upper wall of the card reader.
6. A keyhole-shaped opening 8 is formed in the mounting post 25 on the bottom surface 20 of the housing 14 having both side walls 34 and a plurality of terminals 40.
A discharge lever 80 having 6 is mounted and mounted on a circuit board. The card receiving recess 36 for the card 50 is formed by the upper wall 16 and both side walls 34 of the housing 14 and the surface of the circuit board.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a card reader, and more particularly to a circuit board-mounted card reader having an ejection mechanism and an assembling method thereof.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A typical card reader assembly includes a housing base and a cover. The housing base has a plurality of terminals mounted therein, and the cover cooperates with the housing base to form a card receiving recess. The vertical dimension, or height, of the card reader assembly is determined by the housing base and the cover, which is determined by the thickness of the card inserted into the card reader assembly. Therefore, mounting the card reader assembly on a circuit board requires a space of a predetermined minimum size on the circuit board to accommodate the assembly. However, it may be preferable to form the card reader with a low profile for use in a small electronic device such as a mobile phone.

[0003] Many card readers further include an ejection mechanism to allow the card inserted in the recess of the card reader to be ejected from the card reader. This ejection mechanism is usually fixed on the upper surface of the lower housing or arranged between the lower housing and the card. An example of such a discharge mechanism is disclosed in U.S. Pat.
381,001 and 5,149,276.

[0004]

However, these conventional card reader ejection devices have a drawback or problem that they are not short and cannot be applied to a card reader that does not use a lower housing or a card carrying plate.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a circuit board-mounted card reader having a low-profile structure which does not have the drawbacks of the conventional device and a method for assembling the same.

[0006]

According to the present invention, there is provided a card reader mounted on a circuit board, wherein a discharge lever is pivotally mounted on a bottom surface of a housing having an upper wall and both side walls, and the upper wall, both side walls of the housing and the mounting circuit board. The card can be inserted into a card receiving recess formed on the surface of the card reader to obtain a low-profile card reader.

Further, according to the method of assembling a card reader mounted on a circuit board of the present invention, a mounting post is formed which hangs down from the rear of a bottom surface of a housing having an upper wall and both side walls, and a discharge lever having a keyhole-shaped opening in the mounting post. Are rotatably inserted and fixed, and these are mounted at predetermined positions on the circuit board.

That is, according to the card reader mounted on the circuit board of the present invention, when mounted on the circuit board, the housing is provided in the housing having the bottom surface forming the card receiving concave portion and the housing separated from the card receiving surface. A plurality of electrical terminals. The terminal has a flexible contact extending into the card receiving recess and flexing upwardly by engaging (contacting) a circuit pad along an upper surface of the card when the card is inserted into the card receiving recess. A feature of this card reader is that the lever arm is pivotally attached to the bottom surface of the card stop surface behind the housing. The lever arm has a first portion on the side of the pivot axis.
Side and engages the actuator. Further, the second side of the pivot includes a second portion that engages the front end of the inserted card to partially push the card out of the recess when actuated.

According to one embodiment, the lever arm includes a keyhole-shaped opening and is configured to receive a front end of a mounting post therethrough. The opening has a slot extending from one side and is sized to receive the axis of an internal post, such that the lever arm is pivotally retained on a post having a front end located on the extended slot. One end of the lever arm includes an actuator engagement slot and the other end includes a portion configured to engage a front end of the card, and when actuated, pushes the card at least partially out of the recess.

Further, the card reader includes an actuator and is configured to operate the lever arm.
The actuator includes a first end configured to cooperate with one end of a lever arm, and a second end including a push button for actuating an ejection lever.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The construction and operation of a preferred embodiment of a circuit board-mounted card reader and a method for assembling the same according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

A description will be given with reference to FIGS. The circuit board-mounted card reader ejection device or card reader assembly 10 includes a card reader 12 and a card 50. The card reader 12 includes a housing 14 and a plurality of electric terminals (hereinafter simply referred to as terminals) disposed therein.
40. In addition, the housing 14 is
6, bottom or circuit board mounting surface 20, card receiving surface 28,
It has a rear surface 30 and opposing side walls 34. The circuit board mounting surface 20 connects the housing 14 to a circuit board (not shown).
, A card receiving recess 36 is formed. The card receiving recess 36 extends from the card receiving surface 28 to a rear surface or card stop surface 38 near the rear wall 30. Housing 14
Bottom surface 20 includes a discharge lever 80 and a mounting post 25.
At the rear of the card stop surface 38.
The discharge lever mounting post 25 has an enlarged portion 26 at its front end, and has a shaft portion 27 smaller than the enlarged portion 26.

The ejection lever 80 includes a first portion 82 and a second portion 82.
And a portion 84. A first portion 82 extends laterally from the pivot axis P to its first side, and a second portion 84 extends laterally from the pivot axis P to its second side and, when activated, forwards the card 50. Engaging the rim 58, the card 50 is inserted into the recess 36.
And partially extrude outwardly (see FIG. 3).

The ejection lever 80 has a keyhole-shaped opening 86.
The opening 86 includes a large diameter portion 87 configured to receive the front end 26 of the mounting post 25 and a slot extending from a first side thereof and sized to receive the shaft 27 of the mounting post 25 therein. 88. In the final assembled state, the ejection lever 80 is pivotally held by the mounting post 25, the front end 26 of which is located on the extension slot 88,
As a result, the ejection lever 80 is connected to the bottom surface 20 of the housing 14.
To prevent it from falling. One end of the discharge lever 80
Includes an actuator engagement slot 90 and the other end
5 and is configured to engage the front end 58 of the card 50. When actuated, the card 50 is at least partially pushed out of the card receiving recess 36 (see FIG. 3). In the embodiment shown, this part 85 is
Extends downward from zero. The ejection lever 80 is formed in a flat plate shape, but it can be understood that the ejection lever 80 may have another arbitrary shape.

Further, the card reader 12 includes an actuator 92, and is configured to actuate (actuate) the ejection lever 80. This actuator 92
Includes an arm 94 extending to a first end having a protrusion 95 along the side wall 34 of the housing 14 and configured to be received in a slot 90 of a discharge lever 80. Arm 9
4 is supported by a housing structure 15 and defines an arm receiving slot 17 therein. The arm 94 includes a push button 96 at the second end of the card receiving surface 28 to operate the ejection lever 80.

A plurality of terminals 40 are disposed in each terminal receiving passage 32 of the rear wall 30 of the housing 14. Each terminal 40
Includes a circuit board mounting portion 44, a flexible contact (contact) portion 46, and an intermediate portion 42 therebetween. Terminal 40
Are mounted on the board mounting portion 44 near the rear surface 30 from the housing 14.
Extending away from the card receiving surface 28 having A contact 46 having a contact surface 47 extends into the card receiving recess 36 and is separated from the circuit board surface by a distance less than the thickness of the card 50. The front end 48 of the flexible contact arm 46 is received in the opening 18 in the upper wall 16 of the housing 14 and a card 50
When the is inserted into the card receiving recess 36, collision with the terminal 40 is prevented.

The card 50 has a top surface or substrate 52 and a surface 52 remote from it, and a bottom surface or substrate side surface 56. The upper surface 52 includes a plurality of contact pads (not shown) near its front end 58, and when the card 50 is inserted into the card receiving recess 36, the contact surface 47 of the contact portion 46 makes electrical contact.

Next, a method of assembling the card reader will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 6. The ejection lever 80 is installed in the housing 14 with the enlarged opening 87 positioned on the front end 26 of the mounting post 25 and ejected. The lever 80 is positioned relative to the housing surface, and the slot 88 of the ejection lever 80 moves laterally along the shaft 27 so that the front end 26 of the mounting post 25 is over the end of the slot 88. . Thus, the discharge lever 80 is trapped (see FIG. 6).

In the initial assembly position, the second portion 84 of the ejection lever 80 extends over the side wall 34, as shown in FIG. When the ejection lever 80 is moved to the final assembly position, the second portion 84
And end 85 move to an operating position within housing 14. At the same time, the slot 90 moves onto the protrusion 95 of the actuator arm 94. When push button 96 is pressed,
Actuator arm 94 moves rearward of housing 14 and eject lever 80 pivots and its end 85
Engages with the front end 58 of the card 50, thereby pushing the card 50 out of the card receiving recess 36 (see FIG. 3).

In the illustrated embodiment, the housing 14
The bottom surface 20 further includes at least one pair of alignment posts 22 at the inner end 37 of the card receiving recess 36.
Projecting from opposite sides of each other, and when these posts 22 are inserted into corresponding mounting holes in a circuit board (not shown), the card reader 12 is accurately aligned with the circuit board. Each post of the pair of alignment posts 22 includes a card receiving groove 24 and is aligned with a card receiving recess 36. Each card receiving groove 24 has a card 50
Are sized to receive each side of card 50 when fully inserted. It should be understood that the ejection mechanism can be used with other card readers.

Although the circuit board-mounted card reader and the method of assembling the same according to the present invention have been described in detail, the illustrated example is merely an exemplification of the present invention, and various modifications can be made in accordance with a specific application. Of course.

[0022]

As will be understood from the above description, according to the circuit board-mounted card reader of the present invention, the housing is not provided with a bottom wall, and the circuit board surface on which the card board is mounted is formed as the bottom wall. Because it forms a receiving recess,
This has a practically remarkable effect that an extremely low-profile card reader or a card reader with an ejection device can be obtained which is easy to assemble and can be configured with minimum parts. Further, according to the assembling method of the present invention, the above-described circuit board-mounted electrical connector can be easily assembled.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of a board mounted card reader of the present invention with a card inserted.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the card reader and the card of FIG. 1 as viewed from the bottom side.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 2, in which the ejection lever of the card reader of FIG. 1 is operated to partially push out the card.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the card reader of FIG. 1 as viewed from the bottom side.

5 is a perspective view of the ejection lever of the card reader shown in FIG. 1 as viewed from the bottom side in an initial stage of assembling the housing to a housing.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the card reader of FIG. 5 in a final assembled state.

[Explanation of symbols]

 12 Card Reader Attached Card Reader 14 Housing 16 Upper Wall 20 Bottom (Circuit Board Mounting Surface) 22 Alignment Post 25 Mounting Post 34 Side Wall 36 Card Receiving Depression 40 Terminal 46 Contact Portion 80 Eject Lever 86 Keyhole Opening 92 Actuator (Operation Part) 96 push button

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A housing having an upper wall and both side walls, a plurality of terminals mounted on a rear portion, and a discharge lever pivotally mounted behind a bottom surface of the housing; A card reader mounted on a circuit board, wherein a card is inserted between a wall and a circuit board on which the housing is mounted. 2. A method for assembling a circuit board-mounted card reader having a housing and a discharge lever, comprising: forming a mounting post hanging from the rear of a bottom surface of a housing having an upper wall and both side walls; A method of assembling a circuit board-attached card reader, comprising: inserting a discharge lever having an opening in the shape of a slide and pivotally mounting the discharge lever; and mounting the housing to which the discharge lever is mounted at a predetermined position on a circuit board.